Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 636 - 576: Heart_2

"It’s not that you don’t want to, but the ability to parasitically control others requires you to be close and in direct command.

"Otherwise, you could easily use the Elemental Material to remotely control all the helicopter pilots to turn against us.

"Moreover, this move would deplete the Elemental Material within your body, and continuous usage would weaken you.

"How long could you last like this?"

Ryan Hunter’s gaze flickered. He was determined to capture Li Ang. The United States had deployed the entire US Forces in Japan, including the entirety of the Third and Seventh Fleets, now positioned in the Japan Sea area.

The four Apache Helicopters were just a trivial appetizer. Every minute, an even larger military force was assembling, descending upon Tokyo.

"You’re right." The cold night rain pelted his face as Li Ang removed his disguise sunglasses and turned to look at Ryan. "That’s why we need to clear the obstacles quickly."

Before the words had settled, Ryan felt a chill run up his spine.

His body reacted instinctively before his mind could catch up; his arms unconsciously raised and crossed in front of him.

The power of the Meteorite Fragments activated. A blazing scarlet flame surged all over Ryan’s body. Accompanying the flames, an armor suit from the Japanese Warring States period draped over him.

[Ootake Maru]. This was the codename Ryan Hunter had given his superpower. He had lived in Japan with his parents since childhood and loved Japanese demon-god culture. Ootake Maru was one of the strongest demons in Japanese legend.

BANG!!

The chain of Elemental Material, flicked from Li Ang’s sleeve like a whip, struck the armor on Ryan’s arm. The blow forced him to stagger back more than ten meters, his feet leaving elongated tracks on the concrete.

The blade at the end of the chain cut deeply into his armor, slicing his skin and beginning its parasitic erosion.

The corrosion from the Elemental Material progressed rapidly. First, it invaded the muscles, preventing the opponent from escaping. Then, it merged into the blood, following it towards the heart and spine.

STOMP!

Moon Woman stomped and leaped to Ryan’s side. Pushing on his shoulder, they both shifted several meters away, still in an ethereal form.

The ends of the chains still retained their erosive posture; a multitude of thin strands had already manifested as dense branches.

Had Ryan remained in his original place, control of his entire arm would have been seized, or worse.

"Thanks." Ryan broke out in a cold sweat and quietly thanked Moon Woman, who simply shook her head in response.

They maintained their ethereal forms.

Li Ang, ignoring them, leaped down from the rooftop. His chains, like demonic claws, first plowed vertically through skyscrapers to cushion his fall. Then, with a heavy smack, he launched himself forward like a cannonball.

The second skyscraper, the third skyscraper.

Li Ang used the skyscrapers as springboards, swiftly moving forward.

Is this... a retreat? Ryan watched the receding figure, his eyes wide.

No, it wasn’t a retreat.

Every time Li Ang moved between the skyscrapers, the chains of Elemental Material burrowed into the reinforced concrete, absorbing a large amount of steel.

And the direction he’s heading... it’s northeast?! Ryan estimated the direction, his heart pounding.

That direction pointed to the heart of Tokyo, the very core of Japan: The Prime Minister’s Official Residence, Cabinet Office, House of Representatives, Senate, National Congress, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Supreme Court, and even... the Imperial Palace. And the direct distance was just four kilometers.

"Stop him!" Ryan roared. Sending the US Forces in Japan into the Tokyo City area to fire upon and destroy unoccupied skyscrapers was one thing. But for the United States, as the de facto sovereign power, to watch the Superpower User they were trying to capture strike at the heart of Japan was another matter entirely.

Without needing his reminder, Moon Woman grabbed his shoulder. They flew forward in their ethereal form, picking up their teammate Gunpowder, who had just run downstairs, along the way.

The three flew rapidly forward, pursuing Li Ang.

「 」

Amid the heavy downpour, Li Ang retrieved the previously lost Elemental Material, gliding through the steel jungle.

They had now left the area affected by ’Boredom Dispersal.’ As the core area of Tokyo, the streets were filled with pedestrians and vehicles that had not been evacuated in time.

Ordinary people stared dumbfounded at the figure streaking across the sky above them.

Some young people instinctively took out their cell phones, ready to film. However, just as they adjusted their camera lenses, the figure had already disappeared from view.

BANG!

A gigantic beast claw formed of Elemental Material struck the ground again. It flattened three vehicles parked on the roadside and propelled Li Ang forward.

The erosion level is still increasing...

Li Ang’s face was expressionless. The scarf he had filched from a small stall had long since been torn away by the wind. His cheap sunglasses, unable to withstand the wind pressure, had broken at the temples, and he had discarded them.

Overusing his power was not without a cost. He could feel the Elemental Material continuously eroding his body: his spine, torso, limbs, and even his brain.

Strands of threads snaked along his cervical vertebrae, climbed up his skull, and gradually permeated the cranial cavity.

The vibrant cityscape in his vision began to blur. Fragmented memories surfaced before his eyes: Yu Country, the Academic Palace, Chai Cuiqiao...

His brain seemed to be in disarray, muddling true reality with the fictional stories Li Ang had concocted as an amateur novelist. A woman’s anxious voice echoed in his ears again.

"Young master, wake up!"

This call abruptly roused Li Ang from his trance. He snapped back to reality, only to see dozens of fiery streaks lighting up in front of him.

They were FGM-148F Javelin anti-tank missiles, fired by US soldiers from the rooftops.

The cylindrical supersonic missiles deployed their wings and tail fins in mid-air. Their single-chamber, dual-thrust solid rocket engines erupted with dazzling flames. Guided by passive infrared homing systems, they headed straight for Li Ang.

Below, civilians screamed and fled. Drivers abandoned their vehicles, scrambling for safety on foot.

Li Ang stopped abruptly, suspended in mid-air by nine chains. These chains pierced into vehicles by the roadside, absorbing steel. The other hundred or so chains hovered behind him like the hair of a Demon God.

He raised his palm forward. The fiery glare of the anti-tank missiles grew increasingly clear in the gaps between his fingers.

His brain coldly calculated the trajectory of all the missiles. When they closed to within two hundred meters, Li Ang swiftly lowered his hand.

WHOOSH—

All the raised chains shot out, blasting every anti-tank missile out of the sky.

WHOOSH!

Another missile shot from behind him. It came from an anti-tank infantry team hidden in a dark alley.

They had hidden in the shadows, deliberately waiting for Li Ang to fly past. They seized the moment his attention was drawn by the frontal assault to launch their sneak attack.

Did it work?! The four-person squad looked up at the night sky, their hopes pinned entirely on that missile.

Li Ang remained motionless in the air, merely flicking a finger casually.

Four chains beside him received the command. They instantly transformed into flat ribbons, lashing out with incredible precision to entangle the missile in mid-air.

The rocket engine at the missile’s tail desperately spewed flames but couldn’t break free from the restraints. Instead, deliberately guided by the flat ribbons, it looped in the air, arcing sharply before plummeting towards that dark alley.

BOOM!!

The four members of the anti-tank infantry team were instantly pulverized in the blast. Charred limbs and body parts flew out, smashing onto piles of black garbage bags deep in the alley.

Ryan, hurrying to the scene, witnessed this, and mixed emotions welled up inside him.

The sorrow was for his comrades, his brothers-in-arms, who had died so trivially, killed by the very weapons they trained with daily. The joy was that Li Ang had finally been delayed.

In that short moment, organized military forces had already appeared at the end of the road, blocking the way.

Tanks and armored vehicles rumbled forward, crushing the road surface. Parked vehicles, as if made of paper, were flattened into thin sheets of metal.

Large numbers of soldiers advanced closely behind the armored vehicles. In the sky, the searchlight beams of armed helicopters once again pierced the darkness.